Saturday, September 6, 2008

Pennsylvania: Always Under Construction

Sure Mike, here's some live blogging. As of 7:52 I'm still on the parkway outbound, reduced to one lane, because the Forbes Avenue exit is closed. As of 20 minutes ago, the CM-CC game had not begun, possibly because the officials are caught in the same traffic as me.

Shouldve taken me a half hour or so from my place to CMU. Instead I've been on the parkway alone for 2 hours.

More if I get to the game.

24 comments:

mike_kovak said...

It's because there's 80,000-plus here at the Pitt game.

Yeah right.

KiPA - Kevin in PA said...

Still haven't exited.

KiPA - Kevin in PA said...

Still haven't exited.

mike_kovak said...

As a grizzled veteran of the Pittsburgh streets, I learned it's always wise to go through downtown and take Bigelow Boulevard to the back end of Oakland.

From there, it's quite easy to get to Carnegie Mellon.

KiPA - Kevin in PA said...

Didn't know Forbes was closed or else I'd've done that.

KiPA - Kevin in PA said...

One mile away. Been amusing myself playing rock, paper scisscors with the kids in the back of the bus in front of me.

mike_kovak said...

Pitt 17, Buffalo 16.

Pitt not so good.

KiPA - Kevin in PA said...

Yikes.

KiPA - Kevin in PA said...

I've exited.

KiPA - Kevin in PA said...

CC up 10-7 at halftime.

mike_kovak said...

Word on the street is PCC 17, C-M 13. Any confirmation?

KiPA - Kevin in PA said...

It's true.

Anonymous said...

Well bloggers, who played well and not so well for the Big Macs tonight? Did Mike Hull go to the Penn State game and miss his own game? This is a terrible loss for the Macs and one that could be impossible to recover from.

KiPA - Kevin in PA said...

Honestly, it's hard for me to evaluate completely. By the time I got through the Parkway and actually got to CMU, it was almost halftime. Plus we had an early deadline, so when I did get there, I scrambled to try to catch up and prepare my story.

Here's what I can say: the first half seemed, based on the stats I got, to go better for the Big Macs than the second. Hull was on his way to 100+ yards at halftime but didn't get there. CC had less than 100 yards of offense.

An injury to Luke Campbell hurt the Big Macs' rush defense and CC targeted that weakened area and controlled the ball in the second half. Two big running plays was about the extent of CC's offense. I don't think they threw a pass in the second half. A couple other injuries to the C-M offensive line hurt the ground game, which struggled in the second half.

C-M had to play catch-up late in the fourth, and that's tough to do with an inexperienced quarterback, who threw interceptions to end the Big Macs' last two drives.

It's an unfortunate loss and was a winnable game for Canon-Mac, but I'm not sure it's going to kill their season. They had some chances, including a 69-yard punt return (yet no one I asked could remember what happened on that drive) and forced a fumble in CC territory to begin the third but couldn't pounce on it.

How extensive those injuries turn out to be could be a cause for concern.

Anonymous said...

Pihakis: Please block someone

--Signed: Steve Roach, Mike Hull, and Chad Hagan

Anonymous said...

Injuries should not be an excuse for a school with C-M's enrollment.

So tired of the Big Macs' injury excuses.

Anonymous said...

Isn't CM one of the smaller Quad A schools? I could be wrong, but that's what i thought.

Anonymous said...

Whether small or big it's always better not to talk to much smack.

Anonymous said...

If you are going to comment, please use correct ENGLISH - it's TOO, not TO much smack. Academics should be first, then athletics.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with HaganBalla. Six sacks is way too many for the CM offense to sustain and still have a chance to win. Obviously defenses will key on stopping Hull and Hagan and to not give Roach 3 seconds to throw the football is just atrocious. Pihakis and his fellow linemen need to step up and start getting a body on the opposing defensive players or else Roach may have to retire early because of the abuse he is taking. The OL for CM looked unathletic and overweight-- two not so good traits to have when going up against quicker teams like USC and BP. I can only imagine what last year's version of PCC would've done to the Macs. 60 points? The good news is that it is only 2 games and the coaching staff is excellent so hopefully we see some improvement for Woodland Hills.

Anonymous said...

I thought the game was a very good game. It was a defensive battle. Central Catholic is a very good well coached team. Canon-Mac made a few mistakes but never gave up! The game could of gone either way. I think this should give C.M. some confidence. They played with Central and will have to play Woodland Hills this week. From what I have seen, any team could be playing Gateway at Heinz Field. We need to be healthy for the conference games. Best defense I've seen in years! They need to get better every week.

Anonymous said...

CM's o-line is the biggest barometer for how the season will ultimately end up. If they play well, this could be an elite team. If not, then the playoffs may not even be reached. I agree with the person that stated they looked "unathletic and overweight." Realistically, this team would be better served going with a smaller, quicker line meaning guys like Pihakis, for example, would just play one-way (defense). All Hull and Hagan need is a crease for about 5 tenths of one second and they are on to the second level of the defense. The o-line didn't provide even that little amount of time for holes and PCC dominated. Hopefully, this will change in week 3 and beyond. Also, this group as a whole appears to lack true leadership (for the time being). Hull is definitely a leader (as a Junior), but when you have a large senior class, you need leadership from some of those members too. Unfortunately, guys like Pozonsky, Pihakis, and Schroeder have not stepped up as leaders yet. Perhaps the team has read that they are good and have not realized that they have to prove that on the field.

Anonymous said...

I believe CM has come a long way and they held thier own aganst CC.. considering that CC does recruits thier player from other districts and they have an army for a football team... CM played a good game. They are improving each week.. keep up the great work guys!!!

Anonymous said...

Canon-Mac recruits their players too. See: Zane Zebrasky